Almost 100, her life still blooms

Date: December 06 2008

Denise Gadd

AN INTIMATE gathering to celebrate the centenary of one of Australia's most loved matriarchs is impossible.

For a start, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch has 73 descendants including children Rupert, Anne and Janet and a host of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Then there are the extended families and a legion of friends from Australia and around the world who want to celebrate this auspicious occasion with her.

So it will be a rather large gathering on February 8 at Cruden Farm, her home for the past 80 years. The luncheon will be held between the picking garden and the lake, two of her favourite spots.

The love for this remarkable woman stems from the impact she has had on people from all walks of life and of all political persuasions. Her generosity and philanthropy know no bounds, whether it's opening the garden for the Australian Open Garden Scheme  it is open tomorrow to celebrate her 80th year at Cruden Farm  or raising money for the more than 100 charities she supports.

Just two months shy of the milestone, Dame Elisabeth talked to The Age about her passion for the garden she created as a young bride, her love for Sir Keith, her annoyance at John Howard for refusing to let go, her deep disappointment at the breakdown of her son Rupert's marriage to his wife Anna and her lack of belief in a personal god.

In her lounge room, surrounded by flowers from the garden arranged by her long-time gardener and friend, Michael Morrison, her serenity, sunny disposition, compassion and sense of humour shine through.

If Diana was the People's Princess, Melbourne has Dame Elisabeth, the People's Person. This diminutive but strong and gracious woman can hold sway with the best of them, yet make everyone feel comfortable whatever their situation or the occasion.

She also reaches out to those less fortunate. During the Depression she and her husband, Sir Keith, helped six men to support their families by giving them work building the stables, a landmark at Cruden Farm.

"They came to the door one day, as a lot of people did in those days, and said they were desperate and asked if we had work, so we took them on for a year and a half," she says.

That simpatico has played out all her life, not just in donations to causes she supports, but by involving herself wholeheartedly in them. "Giving money is very easy. You've got to be involved," she says.

When she's not reading annual reports related to the many organisations she is involved with, a responsibility she takes seriously, Dame Elisabeth favours autobiographies and biographies.

She has just finished Peter Costello's memoirs. An admirer of the former treasurer, she says she finds it hard to forgive John Howard for insisting on taking the party to the last election rather than handing over to his deputy.

"I'm very critical of him. He wrecked the party and himself. He just couldn't let go and I think he believed he could win, but he was completely out of touch. I blame Janette. I think she's very ambitious."

So has she ever voted Labor? "No, I haven't, but I'm very fond of Barry Jones. He's a dear man. And I like Brumby. I think he's a good man." While she doesn't know Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard personally, "I quite admire her, really".

Edna Walling was commissioned to design the garden at Cruden Farm but Dame Elisabeth was unhappy with her work, so when Walling left she took over and put her own inimitable stamp on it.

Since then, the garden has been a lifetime commitment and joy  something to be shared with others. Which is why she is always on hand to meet and greet on open days, as she will be tomorrow. Visitors to the garden have commented that they are amazed that Dame Elisabeth is so accessible.

There have been ups and downs in an otherwise beautiful life.

Her husband's death after "24½ years" of marriage was terrible. "He was the man for me and in a sense he's still with me."

Her daughter Anne had osteomyelitis as a baby but recovered. Her other daughter Helen's death at 73, almost three years ago, from cancer was devastating after she'd been in remission for 25 years. "It seemed so wrong to lose a grown-up child. I felt I was the one who ought to have gone."

Her son Rupert's break-up with Anna Murdoch after a 30-year marriage upset her. "I was unhappy about it because I was devoted to Anna, and she and Rupert had had the most wonderful marriage.

"You can't understand it. I remember Rupert telling me that they weren't happy and they were having counselling and I said, 'Rupert, you're going to be terribly lonely and what will happen is the first designing woman will come along and will snap you up.'

"He said, 'Don't be ridiculous, Mum, I'm too old for that'  but that's exactly what happened. Anyway I think he's fond of Wendi (Deng) and she's looking after him, so I can't worry."

Despite fracturing her back this year, Dame Elisabeth keeps up a hectic pace. She puts her energy and zest for life down to the fact that she never stops. "People retire and talk themselves into old age."

Religion doesn't keep her going; nature, family and friends do  and a glass of wine. She told Andrew Denton in his Elders series that she didn't believe in a personal god. "I received a few letters after the show telling me that I must come to realise I was quite wrong. People are a bit sensitive, but I had to be honest."